The airline industry is a labor-intensive industry, requiring large numbers of operational personnel at multiple airports, and other, facilities, working in all aspects of aircraft operations relating to flight, maintenance, and other support activities. Additionally, logistical challenges associated with operational aspects of large numbers of aircraft and ensuring that appropriate levels of staffing are in place so that the airline operations can best be effectuated.
Many activities must be performed, and many factors must be taken into account for each aircraft throughout a typical day, or other time period. Activities are required to be undertaken and carried out at different locations and at different times, all dependent upon the location of the aircraft, or where the aircraft is scheduled to be at some future point, or where the aircraft has previously been positioned. Any disruption in a set schedule or routine interferes with timeliness of operation of the affected aircraft. And, when disruptions to the set schedules or routines of a plurality of aircraft occur, such disruptions interfere with the timeliness of operations of the affected aircraft. Generally, the sooner that the disruption is detected and alerted, and its cause determined, the sooner that ameliorative action can be undertaken and the affects of the disruption can be minimized. And, in some situations, ameliorative action can be taken on a prospective basis, sometimes even to prevent the occurrence of the disruption or limit its effects.
In order to take corrective action to ameliorate a schedule disruption typically requires that information relating to many aspects of the aircraft operations be monitored so that the disruption is early-identified. As airline operations are distributed across many locations, even across multiple continents, monitoring aircraft operations, even for a single aircraft, typically requires monitoring of information generated at multiple locations. And, when monitoring of a large number of aircraft is performed, such monitoring must be undertaken across a large number of locations.
Personnel of the airlines regularly, pursuant to their regular job activities, provide information related to different aspects of the aircraft operations. For instance, weight information associated with baggage that is to be loaded onto the aircraft as well as weight information associated with passengers that are to embark on a flight of the aircraft are provided and input into a computer system by ground personnel. The weight information is used, e.g., to perform balance and other calculations. Passenger weight information is, e.g., obtained from a passenger count. And, the baggage and passenger-count information is usable for forecasting, as well as from a weight and balance prospective. Fuel information is also provided by airline personnel and is used, amongst other things, pursuant to weight, cost, and distribution considerations. Weather information is also provided, both by airline personnel as well as by governmental, and other, weather-reporting entities. Weather information is provided for multiple locations, a take-off location and one or more landing-locations, as well as end-route conditions. Information relating to aircraft flight plans, and other related filings are also provided by airline personnel, both those required for airline and air flight operations as well as those required for governmental agencies. Significant additional aircraft-related, airport-related information, maintenance, and other information is provided and used by airline personnel.
While large amounts of information is collected by, or otherwise used by airline personnel, the information is generally obtained and used by other airline personnel that share a common task or mission. Collected, or otherwise entered, information is not always easily obtainable by any airline personnel that might need access to the information, nor is the information generally presentable in a manner that provides a comprehensive view of actual aircraft conditions and status relative to a scheduled choreography.
If a manner could be provided by which to provide a comprehensive view of the aircraft relative to an aircraft choreography, airline personnel would more easily be able to identify anomaly situations and more quickly be able to take ameliorative or preventive measures.
It is in light of this background information related to airline operations that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.